History of Optometry in Ireland

Optometry in Ireland Timeline including Legislation, SI's and Bye-Laws

In the Dublin Chronicle of 1787 there was a report of an Optician living on Aran Quay – possibly of the Mason family, while in 1819 it is known there were no less than 14 Opticians in Dublin.

However, organisation of the profession did not occur until 1905 with the formation of the Irish Optical Association, following the formation of the British Optical Association ten years earlier.

Optometry Ireland Logo - Abstract image of an eye with a colourful iris featuring segments in blue, red, pink, and green. The outer shape of the eye is highlighted with green and orange curves on a light green background.
An assortment of optometry trial lenses and prisms are organised in a case. The lenses are lined up in pairs of different strengths. On the left, a trial frame is visible, used for fitting lenses during eye exams.

1945…

In 1945 the name was changed to The Association of Ophthalmic Opticians Ireland and the organisation was formed into a Company in 1954 with a Memorandum and Articles of Association which listed the following objects:

 

  • The protection of the Members of the Association from influences inimical to the prosperity of the profession of an Optician.
  • The encouragement of (a) the Science of Optics, and (b) the art of the application of the Science of Optics to the improvement of Human Vision.
  • To purchase or otherwise acquire any lands, tenements and hereditaments of any tenure whether subject or not to any charge or encumbrance, and to hold or sell, lease let either furnished or unfurnished, alienate, mortgage, charge or otherwise deal with all or any of such lands, tenements. hereditaments or any parts thereof.

 

 

The Opticians Act of 1956

The Opticians Act of 1956 put an Opticians Board in charge of education for the profession. Rules were made covering the processes necessary for registration to practice and framing the syllabus of the courses, approved by the Minister for Health.

It was recognised that, in addition to the academic qualification needed, assessment of the clinical abilities of those seeking registration should be undertaken by the profession itself, and the Association was appointed to this function by the Board.

In the 1950s an evening course ran in the College of Technology, Kevin Street, Dublin. This course was subsequently converted to a full-time course, with successful students awarded the Association’s Diploma in Optometry.

This has now evolved into a Degree Course in TU Dublin, which is located in the Grangegorman campus.

A glass prism refracts a single white light beam, splitting it into a spectrum of rainbow colours on a black background.

Change of Name

The organisation’s name changed to the Association of Optometrists Ireland in 1986 and  in 2021 the Association changed its public facing name to Optometry Ireland, while Association of Optometrists Ireland remains the legal name.

Logo of the Association of Optometrists Ireland. Features a stylised multicoloured eye within the letters AOI on the left and the text Association of Optometrists Ireland with the slogan Sight for life, vision for the future on the right.
Logo of Optometry Ireland featuring a stylised eye. The iris is a multicoloured circle within a blue outline of an eye, with an orange and green curved line representing eyelids. The text Optometry Ireland is below.
Logo of CORU featuring a dark circle with CORU in white text inside. Beside it, the text reads Ag Rialáil, Galmrúcha, Sláinte agus Cúram Sóisialta and Regulating Health + Social Care Professionals.

During the economic crash following the end of the Celtic Tiger, the Government set about a programme to reduce the number of quangos and one of the consequences was a plan to abolish the Opticians Board and regulate the profession under the Health & Social Care Professionals Council.

In 2014, the Health (Misc. Provisions) Act brought forward legislation to regulate Optometry and dispensing optics under CORU which came into force in November 2015. With the change in regulation, the scope of practice of Optometrists became no longer restricted and an Optometrist can recognise, diagnose manage and treat a range of ocular conditions.